Veronica Brandt holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering. As editor, she has produced fine publications (as well as valuable reprints) dealing with Gregorian chant, hymnody, Latin, and other subjects. These publications are distinguished on account of their tastefulness. She lives in the Blue Mountains near Sydney, Australia, with her husband Peter and five children.

“We wish therefore and prescribe, that all observe the law of the Church, and that at home or in the church they shall always wear the cassock, which is proper to the clergy. When they go out for duty or relaxation or on a journey, they may use a shorter [coat] which is to be black in color, and which reaches to the knees, so as to distinguish it from the dress of the laity. They should reject the more elegant and worldly styles of garments, which are found today. We enjoin upon our priests as a matter of strict precept that, both at home and abroad, and whether they are residing in their own diocese or outside of it, they shall wear the Roman collar.”
— Third Plenary Council of Baltimore (1884)

T THEBEGINNING OF LENT Lent I tend to read too much about how to keep this penitential season. Being unable to fast 1 I try to think of creative ways to keep Lent. Then an article like this brings me right back down to earth.

But when thou dost alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth. That thy alms may be in secret, and thy Father who seeth in secret will repay thee. — Matthew 6:3-4

Of course this goes for prayer and fasting as well. When we tell our good deeds, we receive the praise of our listeners and lose some of the reward which would otherwise have been ours.

Many visionaries showed this in their great reluctance to tell of the favours God granted their souls. Many saints lives were only written under obedience and many such accounts surprised their daily companions by how much the saintly soul had kept hidden.

Then the really interesting part of the article was where it compares different sorts of public prayer gatherings. You know the sort that focus on the community of believers.

I can tell you there’s nothing more embarrassing, more excruciating and cringe-inducing for me than being asked to “share” my “faith” or my “prayer life”

But she goes on to show how it is important to come together for prayer and very possible to do so without losing the merit.

... there is a huge difference between formal, public liturgy – what one of the Oratorian Fathers called with a wink the “bowing and scraping” – and what goes on “cor ad cor”.

And this what brought the real idea of Lenten penances home to me. It’s not something I can show off as an example to my kids. It’s not a competition to out do our Orthodox brethren. It’s about a personal relationship with Jesus – cor ad cor or heart to heart.

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